Recreational crab fishing in the waters off Tacoma and Hood Canal are among the Puget Sound areas that will close for a catch assessment at sunset Monday.
In all, seven areas of the Sound will close to crab fishing on Labor Day: marine areas 6 (eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca), 8-1 (Deception Pass to East Point), 8-2 (East Point to Possession Point), 9 (Admiralty Inlet), 10 (Seattle/Bremerton), 11 (Tacoma/Vashon) and 12 (Hood Canal).
The assessment will be used to determine if any of these areas can reopen for a winter season.
Open areas: These are the parts of Puget Sound scheduled to remain open after Labor Day:
• Marine areas 7S, 7E and 7N (Bellingham-San Juan Islands), which are scheduled to remain open Wednesdays through Saturdays only, plus the entire Labor Day weekend, closing Sept. 30.
• Marine areas 4 and 5 in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and 13 in southern Puget Sound, which are scheduled to remain open seven days a week through Jan. 2.
Summer catch reports: All sport fishers licensed to fish for crab in Puget Sound must submit summer catch reports to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife by Oct. 10. A report must be filed whether or not crab was caught this year.
Crabbers can submit catch record cards to the department by mail at CRC Unit, 600 Capitol Way N., Olympia, WA 98501-1091. They can also report their catch online at https://fishhunt.dfw.wa.gov/wdfw/puget_sound_crab_catch.html from Tuesday through Oct. 10.
Sport crabbers who continue to crab in areas of Puget Sound that remain open after Labor Day should record catches on their winter catch cards, said Rich Childers, shellfish policy lead for the department.
Crabbers who fail to file their catch reports on time will face a $10 fine when they purchase a 2011 endorsement.
Childers noted that this year’s reporting deadline has been extended by more than two weeks to give crabbers more time to file their reports. Those who meet the deadline will be entered in a drawing for one of 10 free 2011 combination fishing licenses, which allow the holder to fish for a variety of freshwater and saltwater species.
More information: wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/ shellfish/crab.
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